How do i monitor packet loss?

[0742Sheff 10]

I'm living in S2. The internet around here is a joke, as anyone who's been on here for long will know. Over the last week i am constantly being disconnected while playing an online game. Sometimes my router is logging this as a disconnect but the vast majority of time there is nothing showing.

Before i get on to AOHELL (TalkTalk), to challenge them on this i would like to gather the info needed to prove that i am losing packets and this is causing my constant disconnects.

 

Any ideas?

[Guest]

I know it's plus net but it might be worth trying what they suggest, it includes using the BT Wholesale speed checker etc. It'll give you some ammo with talktalk. Your router should also give you plenty of stats about errors etc.

 

http://community.plus.net/library/broadband/broadband-faults-guide-i-have-a-fault/

[Cyclone 10]

ping mygameserver.co.uk -t

 

(I think it's t, I'm not on a windows pc here to check).

 

Let it run for a while, when you stop it it will tell you the % of dropped packets.

 

If you don't know the server name, you can check your game PID in the taskmgr (might need to change the columns to show PID).

Then run

 

netstat -ano |find "%PID%"

 

this will show all the connections that your game process is making, figure out the main server ip address and put that into the ping command.

Edited November 28, 2014 by Cyclone

[Ghozer 112]

If the router it's self is loosing connection, They can see every instance on the DSLAM log for your line, so you shouldn't need a log, and that should be enough to prove it's their problem..

 

if the router isn't disconnecting, then it's more complicated, could be your end, could be some route in the middle....

 

(Which game is it btw? as most of some form of packet loss / lag monitor / logging option)

[tzijlstra 11]

TalkTalk will be very happy to discuss this with you, provided you don't use their call-center but use their online-support instead. Whenever I have a problem I deal with them and they sort it out on the spot.

 

Try this link: https://www.talktalk.co.uk/contactus/troubleshooting#753

[0742Sheff 10]

Thanks for the replies folks. A friend is saying he thinks the problem may be to do with my PC. Mainly because every few days windows needs to reset my LAN. Any ideas how i could put this to the test?

I can't talk to Talk Talk because i'm refusing to switch to them instead of staying with AOL.

According to my router logs, it hasn't disconnected since 10.58am. Even though i am being kicked out of the game (WoW), every 5 minutes.

I'll try what you said Cyclone just as soon as i figure out what it is you have actually said lol

[Cyclone 10]

C:\Users\me>ping http://www.google.co.uk -t

 

Pinging http://www.google.co.uk [74.125.230.127] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 74.125.230.127: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=56

Reply from 74.125.230.127: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=56

Reply from 74.125.230.127: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=56

Reply from 74.125.230.127: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=56

Reply from 74.125.230.127: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=56

Reply from 74.125.230.127: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=56

Reply from 74.125.230.127: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=56

Reply from 74.125.230.127: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=56

Reply from 74.125.230.127: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=56

 

Ping statistics for 74.125.230.127:

Packets: Sent = 9, Received = 9, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 16ms, Maximum = 25ms, Average = 19ms

Control-C

^C

C:\Users\me>

 

Like this, but try google and then try your game server.

 

---------- Post added 28-11-2014 at 18:02 ----------

 

World of Tanks on my box is PID 5492

 

C:\Users\me>netstat -ano |find "5492"

TCP 127.0.0.1:10501 127.0.0.1:61030 ESTABLISHED 5492

TCP 127.0.0.1:10502 127.0.0.1:61031 ESTABLISHED 5492

TCP 127.0.0.1:61030 127.0.0.1:10501 ESTABLISHED 5492

TCP 127.0.0.1:61031 127.0.0.1:10502 ESTABLISHED 5492

UDP 0.0.0.0:18914 *:* 5492

UDP 0.0.0.0:53632 *:* 5492

 

That's actually rather unhelpful, those are all local addresses...

 

Google tells me it's this address though

 

C:\Users\me>ping 92.223.1.92 -t

 

Pinging 92.223.1.92 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 92.223.1.92: bytes=32 time=38ms TTL=53

Reply from 92.223.1.92: bytes=32 time=37ms TTL=53

Reply from 92.223.1.92: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=53

Reply from 92.223.1.92: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=53

Reply from 92.223.1.92: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=53

Reply from 92.223.1.92: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=53

 

Ping statistics for 92.223.1.92:

Packets: Sent = 6, Received = 6, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 37ms, Maximum = 46ms, Average = 40ms

Control-C

^C

No packet loss (in that brief test).

[tzijlstra 11]

Thanks for the replies folks. A friend is saying he thinks the problem may be to do with my PC. Mainly because every few days windows needs to reset my LAN. Any ideas how i could put this to the test?

I can't talk to Talk Talk because i'm refusing to switch to them instead of staying with AOL.

According to my router logs, it hasn't disconnected since 10.58am. Even though i am being kicked out of the game (WoW), every 5 minutes.

I'll try what you said Cyclone just as soon as i figure out what it is you have actually said lol

 

I thought AOL didn't exist anymore? I suggest you actually transfer to a proper ISP (TalkTalk or not). Another explanation could be that your wifi adaptor (if you are connected via wi-fi) is playing up. I had a similar problem when playing World of Tanks for a while, getting stupid lag-spikes a lot. I believe WoW also has a network monitor? (Showing ping and with a lag indicator).

 

But in the end the best thing I did was to dump the crappy ADSL line for fibre (same price, there are ways to sort that out with TalkTalk as well).

 

To put it simple: there are lots of factors that can cause a bad connection, I don't understand your situation with TalkTalk so I can't really help you there. My suspicion is that your line is just poor and because you are technically an AOL customer (if I understand it correctly) you might not actually show up on their (TT) scans as having a bad line.

[0742Sheff 10]

I thought AOL didn't exist anymore? I suggest you actually transfer to a proper ISP (TalkTalk or not). Another explanation could be that your wifi adaptor (if you are connected via wi-fi) is playing up. I had a similar problem when playing World of Tanks for a while, getting stupid lag-spikes a lot. I believe WoW also has a network monitor? (Showing ping and with a lag indicator).

 

But in the end the best thing I did was to dump the crappy ADSL line for fibre (same price, there are ways to sort that out with TalkTalk as well).

 

To put it simple: there are lots of factors that can cause a bad connection, I don't understand your situation with TalkTalk so I can't really help you there. My suspicion is that your line is just poor and because you are technically an AOL customer (if I understand it correctly) you might not actually show up on their (TT) scans as having a bad line.

 

Carphone Warehouse own talk talk and AOL. I've been with the AOL side for over 10 years now. They want me to switch over but that will entail a new contract (i like the option to walk away whenever i want), and no doubt hidden throttling during peak times. I've not had anything like that with AOL for a good 7 years now.

I'm directly connected to the router. In game my ms sticks at 42 and doesn't move. I'm not lagging at all. Everything is fine apart from the DC's. They're instantaneous and over within a couple of seconds. I can instantly log back back in but it's annoying.

There is no fiber around here so that isn't an option. I wish it was.

 

I'm going to try what Cyclone says. Failing that i'm going to watch Circonflex's live stream for a bit cause WoW is unplayable right now.

[tzijlstra 11]

Carphone Warehouse own talk talk and AOL. I've been with the AOL side for over 10 years now. They want me to switch over but that will entail a new contract (i like the option to walk away whenever i want), and no doubt hidden throttling during peak times. I've not had anything like that with AOL for a good 7 years now.

I'm directly connected to the router. In game my ms sticks at 42 and doesn't move. I'm not lagging at all. Everything is fine apart from the DC's. They're instantaneous and over within a couple of seconds. I can instantly log back back in but it's annoying.

There is no fiber around here so that isn't an option. I wish it was.

 

I'm going to try what Cyclone says. Failing that i'm going to watch Circonflex's live stream for a bit cause WoW is unplayable right now.

 

If you are watching Circon I assume you too are a WoT player like his live streams although not watched them for a while.

 

Anyway, I think you will find that as an AOL customer you get exactly the same as you get with TalkTalk, although agreed that the contracts are a bit annoying. There are good deals to be had if you tell them you are leaving AOL because you don't want to join TalkTalk though.

 

I am not sure whether WoT has just been updated to 9.5, if so that could be another issue, have you checked the official forums of the game to see if you are alone with this problem?

[0742Sheff 10]

I am yeah. Not played for a while now but still watch Circon and Quickybaby. This wouldn't be an issue if it were WoT. I'd just get a lag spike or whatever. WoW's servers are very picky with stuff like this and the slightest interruption will kick you off. I'm running an extended ping test right now but having to use Cyclone's ip addy above. Every one i try for WoW just times out.

[Cyclone 10]

That's specifically the world of tanks IP address, so if you're having an issue with another game then you really need to figure out what address to ping.

If all the WoW ones time out, they are probably configured to ignore ping requests.